by Matt Margolis
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) revealed on Thursday that whistleblowers have come forward with information regarding the security failure at former President Donald Trump’s campaign rally on July 13, where Trump was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet.
According to these whistleblowers, who provided details about security briefings from the Secret Service before the rally, both the agency and the FBI knew that federal officials had limited resources to cover the event in Butler, Pa., because staffing was stretched thin.
“Information provided to this Committee raises serious questions about the thoroughness of the security planning by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in support of President Trump’s campaign rally,” Jordan wrote in a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Law enforcement overlooked a number of vulnerabilities prior to and during the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, allowing an assassin to shoot a President, murder an attendee, and critically wound two others.”
Whistleblowers have disclosed to the Committee that the USSS led two briefings regarding the July 13 campaign rally on July 8, 2024, with the Western Pennsylvania FusionCenter (WPFC) and other stakeholders, to discuss the upcoming, unrelated visits by PresidentTrump and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. The USSS Special Agent in Charge Tim Burke reportedly told law enforcement partners that the USSS had limited resources that week because the agency was covering the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Washington, D.C. FBI personnel were present at those briefings. While the Committee recognizes that the FBI is one of many agencies represented in the WPFC, it is the lead federal investigative arm and a key source of intelligence on potential threats for special events in its area of responsibility.